The debt ceiling crisis may soon be over. Just a few days ago, President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy struck a deal to suspend the debt limit and freeze federal spending over the next two years, and the House is set to vote on, and likely pass, this deal this evening. But while the US may narrowly avoid a default, we don’t think this deal is cause for celebration. … Continue reading Cutting through the spin around the debt ceiling deal
Last week, after a historic five-day battle involving no fewer than 15 rounds of voting, Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 118th Congress. In order to win the gavel, McCarthy had to make concessions to a group of 20 far-right Republicans, the majority of whom belong to the House Freedom Caucus. We don’t know the details of many of these back-room … Continue reading Get Ready for a Debt Ceiling Showdown
Congress is facing an important deadline this week. By this Friday, December 16th, lawmakers must adopt a new spending bill to fund the federal government for the 2023 fiscal year, or they will face the prospect of a government shutdown. Both Republicans and Democrats are eager to get this done. They might not care equally about the need to prevent the economic fallout that would inevitably ensue with a … Continue reading Don’t Extend Trump’s Corporate Tax Cuts
Last week, we told you about many important issues that Democrats have on their plate in the lame duck session. For this week’s Closer Look, we’re going to dive a little deeper into one of the most important things Democrats should be prioritizing in the three weeks before they officially lose control of the House: fixing (AKA eliminating) the debt ceiling. Established by Congress in 1939, … Continue reading Eliminate the debt ceiling
This week, Congress has returned to work in Washington after the Thanksgiving break and will now finish out its “lame-duck session” – the legislative period between elections and the entry of a new Congress. This is crunch time for many important legislative goals for Democrats since they will lose control of the House come January. For this week’s Closer Look, we want to highlight a few of these legislative … Continue reading The clock is ticking on Democrats’ legislative agenda
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a week since polls closed for the midterm elections. Some key races have yet to be called, but we can nonetheless see some broader patterns emerging that we’d like to highlight for you today. First, the good news: Democrats have officially retained control of the Senate! After incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez Masto defeated Adam Laxalt in Nevada’s hotly contested Senate … Continue reading You can blame New York for the House
On Sunday, Senate Democrats voted to pass one of the most significant climate, healthcare, and tax reform packages this country has seen in decades: the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). This bill now awaits a vote in the House (where it is extremely likely to pass) before it moves to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The passage of the IRA is cause for … Continue reading The Inflation Reduction Act is a very, very big deal
After endless negotiations to get Senator Joe Manchin on board with a compromised reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act is now in peril thanks to Arizona Senator (and notorious corporate shill) Kyrsten Sinema. As Democrats scramble to finalize details of the bill, reports indicate that Sinema is demanding Democrats strip provisions that would limit the scope of the carried interest loophole, which allows wealthy private … Continue reading Sinema’s Defense of Carried Interest is Indefensible
After over a year of dead ends, false starts, and frustrating negotiations, it looks like Democrats may finally be close to passing a reconciliation bill. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Joe Manchin reached an agreement on a new reconciliation package, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a shocking development considering that Manchin publicly voiced his opposition to such a package just two weeks ago. … Continue reading Can Democrats finally rally behind the Inflation Reduction Act?
Last week, Senator Manchin blindsided his Democratic colleagues when he reversed course on his previous demands that their agenda be focused on tax reform and declared that he would not vote to raise taxes on the rich or massive corporations. In doing so, he dashed Democrats’ hopes to pass any sort of meaningful tax legislation before November. He also ironically proved, by showing the country … Continue reading Joe Manchin Just Showed Why We Need the OLIGARCH Act
It’s been a big week for economic news. From drama in Congress over the Build Back Better negotiations to continued economic strife affecting working Americans to new tax benefits offered to the rich, our economy is steadily moving in further favor of the wealthy, and the federal government appears ill-equipped to rise to the occasion. This week, we’ll look into how our current economy, policies, … Continue reading The Economy is Bad. Congress Needs to Fix It
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Senate Democrats have re-engaged in negotiations with West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin over passing a “skinny” version of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act. Manchin was one of the primary reasons the original Build Back Better Act failed to advance through the Senate after passing the House, so if Senate Democrats can get him on board, there’s good reason to believe Biden’s would-be signature economic … Continue reading Dems can’t let Sinema kill their last chance to tax the rich
I am joining the Patriotic Millionaires for one big reason: sitting on the sidelines and watching is no longer an option – at least not for me. An increasing number of our fellow citizens feel disparaged by an economy and a politics that offers little or no security, that rewards the few and ignores the many, and that erodes our confidence in those who are … Continue reading Why I’m a Patriotic Millionaire: Andrew Ellis
Even though Congress is out of session this week, the fight for fair taxation continues. House and Senate Democrats are still deciding what to do with the State and Local Tax (SALT) cap, which sets a limit on the amount of state and local taxes that taxpayers can deduct from their federal tax bills. The House plan would raise the cap from $10,000 to $80,000, … Continue reading Want to fix the economy? Tax the rich
Momentum is building this week in Congress behind President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda as House and Senate Democrats negotiate how they are going to raise revenue linked to the roughly $2 trillion new spending that the reconciliation bill would introduce. Yesterday, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden officially unveiled his Billionaires Income Tax plan which, as we highlighted earlier this week, would tax the richest Americans … Continue reading Corporate Minimum Tax and Millionaire Surtax Highlight Biden’s Reconciliation Framework
This week, the Patriotic Millionaires are on tour in West Virginia! We’re stopping at Joe Manchin’s district offices, college campuses, local restaurants, theaters, and street festivals across the state, speaking to Manchin’s constituents directly about the pressing need to fix our rigged tax code and get Senator Manchin on board with a full $3.5 trillion dollar Build Back Better Agenda. You can keep up with … Continue reading Spotlight on West Virginia and Arizona
Last night, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced to her caucus that she plans to bring the bipartisan infrastructure bill up for a vote this Thursday, separate from the budget reconciliation package. This stands in direct contrast to the agreement reached within the Democratic caucus that both bills would proceed simultaneously, and must be rejected by all Democrats who care about advancing the party’s full … Continue reading No Infrastructure without Reconciliation
Recently, a group of nine moderate and conservative Democrats voiced their opposition to the tactics Democrats are using to pass two bills simultaneously: a limited bi-partisan infrastructure package, and a more ambitious reconciliation package designed to pass with only Democratic votes. In a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they stated they planned to withhold their vote on the budget package if the infrastructure bill was … Continue reading America Needs Democratic Unity
We’re finally reaching the point where real economic change is on the horizon through the upcoming infrastructure and reconciliation bills. During this time it can be hard to clearly see progress with all the confusion and noise of Washington. Debates about government spending have often been dominated by concerns from conservatives and moderate politicians. Even still, we have to remember that making investments that will … Continue reading Spending versus Investments, the Great Debate
Earlier this week, after months of negotiations, a bipartisan infrastructure bill passed in the Senate. This was followed quickly by a $3.5 trillion budget that sets the stage for Democrats to pass a reconciliation bill that would make one of the largest investments in American families in the last half century. But while we’re in a moment of great opportunity, there are, as always, many … Continue reading Overcoming the Opposition